Loch Katrine

Alfred de Breanski was a distinguished landscape painter who became famous for his breathtaking views of Wales and Scotland. At his best, Breanski was capable of producing excellent effects, often bathing his landscapes with a flood of golden light.

Breanski belonged to the real stamp of those landscape painters who nimbly seized moments of the day. He had a great passion for the Highlands and perhaps more than any other, caught the atmospheric influences of the undulating landscape which frequently featured water and cattle or sheep on grassy banks, sometimes with a solitary figure in the distance.

Born in London, Alfred was the eldest son of Leopold Breanski. He had a younger brother Gustave and sister Julia who were also painters. In 1873 Breanski married Annie Roberts. They had seven children, two of which, Alfred Fontville and Arthur were to become painters but their work was not of the same quality as Alfred’s.

He exhibited frequently at The Royal Academy from 1872 up until 1918 and also at Suffolk Street, the New Watercolour Society, the Royal Institute of Oil Painters and the Cambrian Academy. His work is represented in several museums and public art galleries around the world including the Southampton Art Gallery, the Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and the Sydney Museum, Australia.